“We strive to achieve a high level of security in all of our projects. Investing in security design and implementation will increase the longevity of the building and improves the safety and the wellbeing of the residents”

“We strive to achieve a high level of security in all of our projects. Investing in security design and implementation will increase the longevity of the building and improves the safety and the wellbeing of the residents”

A Bugler Developments project in East Finchley with Opendoor Homes has received a Gold Award from Secured by Design (SBD), the national police crime prevention initiative, for incorporating crime prevention techniques into the development.

The Elmshurst Crescent development transformed an old disused garage block into 2 four bedroom houses, 10 two bedroom flats and 1 three bedroom flat, all for affordable rent.

The new £2,450,000 development was completed in August 2018 with the architectural style and construction complementing that of the neighbouring three-storey buildings on the estate and the bungalows to the east.

An SBD trained Designing Out Crime officer, who is employed by the Metropolitan Police Service, worked with Bugler Developments throughout the construction to assist with security features to reduce the opportunity for crime and anti-social behaviour.

This work included incorporating proven crime prevention techniques in the layout and landscaping, such as to increase natural surveillance, create defensible space and ensure the areas outside the houses had appropriate lighting.

SBD techniques also included the increased physical security of buildings with external doors and accessible windows meeting SBD’s standards for being sufficiently robust to resist attack from opportunist burglars.

There are three levels of SBD award: Gold, Silver and Bronze. The Gold Award is the highest level and it is awarded where the physical security specification of the home is enhanced by the security provided in the external environment.

“We strive to achieve a high level of security in all of our projects. Investing in security design and implementation will increase the longevity of the building and improves the safety and the wellbeing of the residents, providing a home that is not disrupted by crime and disorder.”

“The developer clearly took security and crime prevention seriously in their approach, they contacted the Designing Out Crime Office for early consultation and incorporated the requirements of Secured by Design at that point. This resulted in a seamless application process and a development that is a vast improvement over the garages which it replaced.

“The site was previously a block of garages. Blocks of garages such as this are common throughout London, however due to the fact that they are separate from the dwellings and experience limited natural surveillance and legitimate activity, they are frequently areas that suffer from crime and anti-social behaviour. This development has removed a potential crime generator and replaced it with 13 dwellings that have a high resilience to crime”.

Bugler Developments
Bugler Developments is the construction division of the Bugler Group, an award-winning, family-owned residential property developer operating in London and the South East, with almost 35 years’ sector experience and a strong pedigree delivering successful private affordable and a mixed-use housing developments.

The company is comprised of three specialist divisions including: Bugler Developments, Bugler Land and Bugler Homes, spanning land acquisition, construction, development, sales and aftercare.

About Opendoor Homes
On Monday 20th March 2017, Opendoor Homes officially became a Registered Provider.

Opendoor Homes will deliver an initial 320 homes for affordable rent for Barnet residents. These new homes will be owned and managed by Opendoor Homes, a subsidiary of The Barnet Group, which is wholly owned by Barnet Council. The new build programme is funded with a loan of up to £65m from Barnet Council. The first 320 homes built under Opendoor are due for completion by the summer of 2020.

For more information and updates about Opendoor, please visit www.opendoorhomes.org

About Secured by Design
Secured by Design is the national police crime prevention initiative. It is part of Police Crime Prevention Initiatives (PCPI), a police owned organisation that works on behalf of Police & Crime Commissioners and Chief Constables to deliver a wide range of crime prevention and demand reduction initiatives across the UK. It is a not-for-profit organisation and Board Members include senior police officers from each of the four Home Nations who control and direct the work PCPI carries out on behalf of the Police Service.

As a national crime prevention scheme, SBD has achieved significant successes. In our work with National Government, we have influenced national planning policy to embed crime prevention in the planning process and established police security standards in the building and construction industry.

SBD work to include proven crime prevention techniques and measures into the layout and landscaping of new developments and also work to improve the physical security of buildings using products, such as doors, windows, locks and walling systems that meet SBD security requirements.
This has led to more than one million homes built to SBD crime prevention standards across the UK – that’s 30% of all new homes built – with reductions in crime of up to 87% year-on-year as reported by Police Scotland in 2017.

Key to such achievements is the network of SBD trained Designing Out Crime Officers based in Police Forces and local authorities around the UK, who specialise in designing out crime and who liaise with local authority planners, developers and architects to design out crime at the planning stage in a wide range of building sectors. A number of local authorities have even gone so far as to introduce SBD standards as a planning requirement.

It is important for buildings of all types to be physically secure to deter criminal activity and reduce crime. SBD has worked with manufacturers, the construction industry and standards authorities for many years to ensure that security standards are current and updated to keep pace with changing patterns of criminal behaviour.

Today, SBD has more than 700 member companies with thousands of products in more than 30 different crime categories that have achieved our Police Preferred Specification.

Our membership recognises that products not only have been tested to relevant security standards but also fully certified by an independent third-party certification body accredited by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS).

Companies that achieve our Police Preferred Specification can become an SBD member company and use our coveted logo for sales and marketing purposes. Police forces can recommend SBD accredited products and signpost members of the public to the list of SBD member companies and products on our website www.securedbydesign.com, where all our 700 plus member companies and their many thousands of products are listed.

SBD is the only way for companies to obtain police accreditation for security-related products in the UK.

SBD’s most iconic buildings include the 2012 London Olympics site, the 2014 Commonwealth Games Village, Wembley Stadium, the National Stadium of Wales, and the Scottish and Welsh Assembly Buildings.

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“We strive to achieve a high level of security in all of our projects. Investing in security design and implementation will increase the longevity of the building and improves the safety and the wellbeing of the residents”

Security Systems Policy

Security Systems Policy is a public document designed to give details of police response and the requirements for the private security industry involved in the installation, maintenance and monitoring of systems.